It’s all part of a Dairy Farmers of Ontario initiative called Project Farmgate that encourages farmers to pasteurize, bottle, brand and sell milk instead of shipping it to processing plants to be pooled and sold under major labels.

“People today want local and they want less processed,” says John den Haan.

“Our milk is fresh and tastes fresh,” adds his wife Bonnie. “People want to know their farmer, just like they want to know their dentist, doctor or mechanic. It’s a huge opportunity to educate people.”

All three farms are selling white and chocolate milk in retro glass bottles with snap-on lids instead of the plastic coated paper cartons, plastic jugs and plastic pouches that dominate in supermarkets.

“Milk tastes better out of glass,” says Bonnie. “The bottles are attractive and keep the milk colder. Plus you can see where your fat levels are.”

For the den Haans, the key to Sheldon Creek Dairy milk is that it’s not homogenized.

After milk is pasteurized, it is usually separated so the butterfat is removed and added back if needed to create skim, 1 per cent, 2 per cent and 3.25 per cent (commonly called homogenized milk, although most milks are homogenized). A homogenizer breaks up fat particles and distributes them evenly throughout the milk for a uniform beverage.

For Sheldon Creek Dairy’s non-homogenized milk, the cream floats to the top. You can shake the bottle to reincorporate it, or spoon off the thick cream to eat or use in baking. There’s also a small layer of 5 to 10 per cent cream before the milk.

“Doesn’t that taste good?” says Bonnie during a demo. She believes there are health benefits to drinking milk this way. From Friday to Sunday, she works in her farm store chatting with customers and doling out samples.

The den Haan’s Holsteins spend their days in a barn, where they’re machine-milked twice a day. They go out at night. Right now they’re producing whole milk that’s about 3.7% butterfat. In January and February, that rises to about 4 per cent.

Three of the black-and-white Holsteins — Martina, Maya and Darcel — are part of the dairy logo and are shown on every milk bottle. White milk sells for $3.95 for a 1-litre bottle (plus a $2 bottle deposit). Chocolate milk is a $1 more. The milk has a two-week shelf life.

The Dairy Farmers of Ontario grades and samples the milk before the den Haans pump it from the barn to their new dairy, which houses the processing plant and store. It’s pasteurized, streamed into white/chocolate milk tanks, and then bottled. (Sheldon Creek also makes Greek-style yogurt.)

Production started June 8 and a June 23 grand opening attracted 2,000 people. For now, the milk is sold in about 24 stores and at the farm store, which is open daily and attracting weekend daytrippers from Greater Toronto. The goal is to get into more stores and restaurants.

Project Farmgate launched in 2010, when the Dairy Farmers invited a few interested farmers to sign up. They organized trips to American microdairies, and offered funding for marketing and consulting. In return, the farmers must share their microdairy knowledge.

“This really was done to provide more opportunities to farmers on the one hand,” says spokesperson Bill Mitchell, “and, on the other hand, to provide more opportunities to customers to get what they want in terms of recognized local products.”

On-farm microdairies for fluid milk weren’t illegal under the Milk Act of 1965, but Mitchell isn’t sure whether they existed long ago when the province was dotted with small, but off-farm, dairies. He believes this is the first time the industry has actively encouraged on-farm microdairies and it’s thanks to consumers wanting local food, farmers wanting to diversify, and changing technology.

Ontario’s 4,100 dairy farms produce 2.5 billion litres of milk each year and have always had choices with what to do with it.

The Dairy Farmers of Ontario picks up milk every other day from most farms and takes the bulk of it to one of 70 private processing plants where it’s pooled. About 35 to 40 per cent is processed into fluid milk. The rest is turned into other dairy products including cheese, yogurt and butter.

Some milk — including organic, DHA and kosher — is already kept out of the main pool and processed separately. The microdairies can still sell excess milk into the dairy pool.

Farmers can also send their milk a co-packer for processing. That’s what Jim Eby of Eby Manor near Waterloo started doing in May with Hewitt’s Dairy. His bottled “Golden Guernsey” milk is sold on the farm and at select Southern Ontario shops, including Fresh From The Farm in Toronto. (Guernsey cows, which are bright fawn with white markings, make up less than 1 per cent of the provincial herd.)

Just half an hour away from Sheldon Creek Dairy near Creemore, John and Marie Miller believe their Jersey cows sets Miller’s Dairy apart. While Holsteins make up 93 per cent of Ontario’s herd, Jerseys account for just 4 per cent. These cows are fawn or brown with some white markings.

“We’ll be the first milk plant in 45 years to offer Jersey milk,” says John Miller during a recent tour as workers scrambled to finish his processing plant. “In my opinion, it has more flavour than regular milk. It also has more protein and calcium.”

For Creemore Dairy Day last month, the Millers sent their milk to another processor for bottling since their dairy wasn’t ready.

“People loved it,” says John. “They said they’d forgotten what milk tasted like. We are creating an opportunity here — and a beginning for unique breeds.”

Their “Jersey girls” live in a freestall barn. Three of them — Mary, Pamela and Candice — are on the milk bottle logo. The Millers won’t have a farm store, but they will sell seven types of milk and cream at more than 20 area stores.

Near Kingston, Groenewegen is proud that Limestone Organic Creamery’s Holstein-Jersey offerings come from a certified organic farm. Processing began July 7 and the creamery sells skim, 1 per cent, 2 per cent, 3.8 per cent, 3.8 per cent unhomogenized, and 3.8 per cent chocolate.

Limestone milk is sold in about 10 area stores and restaurants, though home delivery and at a farm store.

Groenewegen is enthused about the potential for microdairies and gives three reasons why on-farm milk processing is important.

“It helps rebuild the local food system in each area. It keeps farm land in production and out of development and foreign interests. And it’s also encouraging the next generation of farmers.”

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